FEATURED SENIOR ATHLETE: Lucas Murphy, North Putnam

Lucas is a senior at North Putnam and participates in two sports, football and wrestling.

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Banner Graphic: How important are sports to you, and what have you learned from them?

Lucas Murphy: “Sports have been pretty much one of the top focuses for me pretty much my whole life. It teaches a lot of things like discipline, that working hard will get you places and how to win as a team.”

BG: Talk about your sports.

LM: “Football has always been my favorite sport since I was little. It’s always been something I can go to to escape from everyday things. Wrestling came along and I got serious about it in fourth grade, taking off from there. I wrestled for the school and at Contenders in Plainfield.”

BG: What’s the most embarrassing thing that has happened to you in sports?

LM: “Getting pinned is always embarrassing but last year Drake Buchanan put me in a wing and turned me with ease. I don’t get pinned that often and while (Buchanan) won a state title last year, it’s still embarrassing.”

BG: What does your game day routine look like?

LM: “In football, we would have lineman breakfast in the morning. I’d usually eat too much so I’d try to get a nap in sometime. After school, it was full on game mode. In wrestling season, it’s usually the opposite as I don’t eat that much throughout the day. I still try to get a nap in after school before our meets start.”

BG: With wrestling, your dad (Michael Murphy) took over as varsity head coach right around the time you were coming in and since then the program has grown rapidly, winning the last two county titles. How do you view the growth over the past four years?

LM: “When I started, it was a smaller program and has grown substantially. Coach Kramer has done a good job bringing in a lot of kids into the middle school program while the high school staff, including my dad, have helped the program take off. Me and my buddies in the senior class have had a big part in this by having the success that we’ve had, making others want to come out and wrestle. I’ve done well in the county and beyond because I’m wrestling the best kids in the room every day in practice between Arrick Kramer and Brayden Glaze.”

BG: Do you have any favorite college/pro sports teams or athletes you follow?

LM: “I’ve watched Notre Dame football for a long time and am a big fan. My favorite athletes to watch are Shaq Leonard and I really like to watch Kyle Dake.”

BG: What else do you do at school besides things involving sports?

LM: “I’m a member of FCA and also very big into academics, having passed four AP classes so far and am taking AP calculus and an IU English course now. I’m also part of the yearbook staff.”

BG: What do you like to do outside of school and sports?

LM: “I really enjoy collecting sports cards. That’s a favorite hobby of mine. I also hang out with my girlfriend a lot.”

BG: What are your favorites in movies/books, TV and music?

LM: “My favorite movies are the ‘Rocky’ movies, with ‘Rocky IV’ my all-time favorite. With music, I listen to a little bit of everything, mainly country though my favorite artist is Eminem. I watch a couple of TV series including ‘This is Us’ and ‘Riverdale.’”

BG: Are you a person that wants to watch TV shows and movies, stream something from YouTube, Twitch, TikTok etc. or something else (gaming, reading, etc.)?

LM: “I’d probably be on YouTube. You can get lost on there sometimes watching who knows what.”

BG: What is something you have never done before that you would like to do someday?

LM: “Skydiving. Feeling the adrenaline rush would be fun.”

BG: What is your biggest fear?

LM: “I hate snakes. They scare the living crap out of me.”

BG: You’ve been placed in charge of making dinner. What’s on the menu?

LM: “I’ve watched my dad grill steaks enough that if I did them, they would be semi-edible. For a side, I could probably grill up some asparagus and potatoes, too.”

BG: Do you have any pets?

LM: “I have three dogs, Samson, Aspen and Rocky.”

BG: If your house were on fire, all living things were already out and you have your keys, cell phone, wallet/purse etc., what is one thing you would go back and get?

LM: “My Tom Brady rookie card. It’s worth quite a bit of money and I wouldn’t want to lose that.”

BG: If you were to describe your personality in one word, what would that word be and why?

LM: “Different. I feel like I do things differently, doing things the hard way rather than the easy way. You don’t see that much nowadays.”

BG: What has been your favorite place to visit?

LM: “I like Gulf Shores, Ala. It’s really a nice, cozy little town and I love the beach.”

BG: What was your favorite school field trip?

LM: “In middle school, we went to an Indy Fuel game and while I knew hockey players fought, I didn’t know that was really a thing in the game in general.”

BG: How important is support from your family and classmates to your success?

LM: “Their support of me is everything. It makes me want to keep pushing hard and keep going. You’re always playing for yourself but, in the back of your head, you also want to make your family and your school look good as well.”

BG: Describe your overall school experience both academically and athletically.

LM: “It’s been a rollercoaster. Wrestling has always been a stable thing. Freshman year of football was a lot of fun. There were ups and downs during sophomore and junior year but this year, coach Moore brough the fun back to North Putnam football. Academically, I’ve enjoyed all my teachers at North Putnam.”

BG: If your school was to offer a class it currently doesn’t, what would you want to see taught?

LM: “An AP European history class would be pretty cool. I enjoyed AP World and AP US history but want to learn more about the countries on the other side of the big lake. It would be fun.”

BG: What are your plans for after high school, and what career are you headed toward?

LM: “I plan to attend college though am undecided on where. I would like to major in business and finance.”

BG: Is it difficult to keep up with your school work being an athlete?

LM: “Not really. You just have to be determined. You can’t go home after practice and lay down or play Xbox. If you have homework, you need to do it.”

BG: Which particular classes and teachers have helped you the most in high school?

LM: “My math teachers, Mrs. Spencer and Mrs. Lippencott, have been really good and I’ve had both of them for two years. Mr. Morgan as a history teacher has always pushed me to be a better student.”

BG: In the future, once you’ve established yourself, if you had your choice, would you want to live somewhere more remote, such as in the mountains, somewhere more flashy, down on the beach or in the big city or in the neighborhood?

LM: “In the neighborhood. My dream home is in a place like a Greencastle or Crawfordsville, somewhere not too far away from everybody but somewhere where you can also to get to a place like Walmart in 10 minutes.”

BG: Do you think high school has gone fast, and are you going to miss it?

LM: “It’s gone extremely fast, especially this past year. First semester flew by. I’m going to miss seeing my friends every day because I’m not sure how many I’ll talk to when it’s done. There’s a core group but it’ll suck not being able to see everybody.”